and highly raised; the wood is compact, close, hard, of a reddish yellow; the gum issues from incisions made in the branches and trunk of the tree, twice a year, during the vigour of the tree, from the age of five or six years, to fifteen or sixteen; and sometimes when it has not been over drawn, even to its thirtieth year. This gun is received into little bags made of hair, properly placed to receive the discharge from each incision; which is made in the form of a cross, and deep enough to penetrate the inner bark, it is white lightly tinged with yellow, glutinous and transparent, coagulates, hardens, and little by little, becomes of a clear lemon colour; and when not mixed is bright. The wood is reserved for union with that of sandal, of which torches and scented lights are made for burning in the temples, and at domestic festivals. It also composes part of those piles which are used in burning the bodies of the dead. XI.-The tree which produces the Oil of wood, a valuable drug, useful to every kind of construction in wood, and especially to ships and vessels. This resinous oil is extracted from a species of teak, a beautiful kind of tree, native of Pegu; by burning the tree: the fire consuming the woody parts, causes this kind of varnish to run freely from all parts of the trunk and branches of this vegetable. This varnish is of a strong and aromatic odour, but not injurious to the animal economy, nor productive of head-achs, as turpentine is. It is employed in painting wood-works, timbers, and furniture, either pure or mixed with any kind of colour; for this oil takes every pigment, from white to the deepest black. This oil of wood is drying, preserves wood from cracks, repells insects and vermin, preserves the wood for many years from being wormeaten, as well as from the attacks of different kinds of marine animals. In proof of this, the vessels built at Surat and Pegu, which are always carefully coated with this resinous oil, as well within as without, last, it is said, three centuries. A ship taken in 1762 by Comte d'Estaing, in the Persian gulph, was in good condition, although it had been off the stocks 170 years. To preserve artillery, the Europeans coat it first with the juice of aloes, and then with the oil of wood. XII. An object which it is very desirable to naturalize in the colonies, as being extremely useful, as well for health, as for commerce, and even for luxury, is the agallochum, called by the several names of aloes, columbo, agal wood, and yellow medicinal wood. This tree which the Hindoos call pérénépalk, is a magnificent present from the hand of nature; it unites on the same branch three dis tinct parts, all of them valuable. The bark yields that sweet, wholesome, and pleasant perfume, named agal wood, which is sold for its weight in gold; the inner bark of this vege table is a good remedy against putrid and bilious fevers; and those occasioned by the insalubrity of the air, such, for example, as the yellow fever; decoctions of it are gi ven several times a day to the sick; it is also employed with success, infused in white wine, or in brandy, or arrack, against pains in the stomach occasioned by over fatigue, also against the marasmus. This remedy is tonic and corroborative. The interior, or woody part, which the Chinese name rosewood, on account of its colour and scent, is useful to the cabinet maker, who converts it into most beautiful furniture; whether we consider the polish of which it is capable, its colour, or the resemblance of its scent to that of a most valued flower. XIII. The tree named Babeila, of the genus acacia, of the family of the mimosas; this tree feeds the winged insects which yield the gum lac, which is called in Hindoostan lakinia. I do not doubt, but that this useful vegetable, as well as the insects which it supports, would succeed in the climate of the Isle of France. It would be a means of increasing the revenue of that colouy, and that without occupying much space or the labour of many individuals. XIV. Among the plants which vield indigo, there is one, the fecula of which is a green, capable of dyeing. The extractive particles of the yellow and blue, are combined in such proportion, in such quantity, and with such cohesion, that the green colour which they furnish, may be fixed successfully on all substances, whether animal or vegetable, intended to be dyed. This plant is named dina-xang, and the Cochin Chinese have the skill to extract from it a green indigo, with which they dye every possible shade of this colour, i. e. of green. This plant, almost unknown to Europeans, would be a valuable acquisition, could it be procured and naturalized in our colonies; the cultivation of it would augment their riches, and the produce would be of the utmost utility to our arts. XV. The tree which produces the wadding, and which is called bombax, in Hindoo hadipe, is large and of a noble character. It rises straight up to the height of 24 or 25 feet, and readily grows in all sorts of soils, without care or culture. It is remarkable by the green colour of its bark, which is delicate and smooth. The fruit of this tree, which has not yet struck the attention of any traveller, is nevertheless of the greatest utility. It is much larger and longer, than the pods of the cotton plant, and incloses a very fine and silky down, which the Hindoos do not employ in manufactures because the staple is too short: but the wool is capable of making the most beautiful felts; as I have learned from experience. When I returned to France, in 1788, I brought a dozen pounds with me; with part of it I had a hat made, which was thought equally beautiful with those made of beaver, as a substitute for which I used it. Of this trial I warrant the truth; and every confirmation of it may easily be obtained. This article, therefore, may become of importance to the revenue of our colonies, and a farther assistance to our commerce and manufactures. Several years after the trial of which I have spoken, in reading the work of M. Poupée Desportes, on the pharmacopcia of St. Domingo, I found the following passage; The advantage which might be derived from the cotton of this tree, (called Mapou at St. Domingo) deserves our attention. All the world admires the beauty, the delicacy, and the goodness of the beaver hats of England. These good qualities are owing to the down contained in the fruit of this tree, which the English employ in the manufac ture of the article mentioned." He adds, *The French, so ingenious in the invention and perfecting of arts, might derive great advantages from the treasures which are offered them by our colonies." Let me be permitted before I close this division, of Vegetables, to mention three species of turness, originally found in Tibet, different from those of Europe; and which the English have transplanted into Bengal; also a species of aubergine, called vulgarly, bringèle or ivory méringèle, because of its whiteness, transplanted also from the same country to the banks of the Ganges, and to the other British possessions on the coasts of Coromandel, and Orissa. This is a leguminous fruit, large and delicious, weighing five or six pounds. It is in all probability, the most bulky, and most useful, of all the solanums which are known. This excellent production recalls to my mind, a root, or opening sprout, of the palin; of which I have spoken in my memoir on the cocoa-tree, and a root named in Bengal cherik, a species of small topinambour, vulgarly called carth-pcar: a wholesome and nutritive root, of a deep yellow colour, like the Indian saffron, named by the botahists curcuma, or terra merita. The cherik yields a plentiful, delicate, and agreeable. nourishment. This acquisition would add to the subsistence of our colonies. Tibet, Cashmir, Bahar, Lahor, Bengal, and the whole of Hindoostan, as well as the neighbouring countries, would furnish an ample harvest of novelties; as would also the island of Ceylon, to any traveller of adequate knowledge and discernment. Ceylon produces a kind of chesnut very large and farinaceous, which the Portuguese call coté-caval, because this fruit resembles certain parts of a horse. 1- ought not to omit the little grain which succeeds in clarifying in a short space of time, the most muddy water, as well as other liquors, and even wines, without injuring either their flavour, or their. good qualities. It is a kind of little round bean, called in Tamul, tétan-cote, of which I do not know the botanic name, as I have never seen a description of it. This grain is the production of a shrub which grows in different provinces, as well in the north, as in what is called the Peninsula on this side the Ganges. Its properties render it valuable for domestic uses, and for some arts. Not having had opportunity of ob serving the flowers, I cannot describe them. These countries, rich in the productions of the three kingdoms, abound in vegetables, which are well adapted to medical purposes, and indeced are in daily use in physic. The most part are unknown to us, as well as their properties. The astonishing effects which they produce before the eyes of Europeans, ought to have roused their emulation to transmit the knowledge of them to their compatriots, and not the knowledge of them only, but the acquisition, and means of expe rimental acquaintance with them. The attempt, I acknowledge, is not of easy execution without powerful means of success. I myself have made the experi ment, but to my sorrow. In 1788, of a great number of seeds which I entrusted to a captain of an Indiaman, not any reached the places to which I had addressed them. [The Animals of India will form subsequent articles.] SKETCH OF THE HISTORY AND ADVAN- Impiger extremos curris mercator ad Indos, : HOR. THE Comprehensive genius of man has been ever active, in searching after some new and latent good, which by rendering him more wise, will consequently render him more happy but never has it been more conspicuously, or more usefully employed, than in the invention of commerce. If we consider this attentively, and trace its rise, its progress, and its consequences, we shall at once be struck with the multiplied advantages it affords mankind, and the long train of blessings, which have never failed to follow it in every country where it has been steadily pur sued. In the investigation of this subject, the secret springs and causes that have operated to abolish civil dissention and disorder will be distinctly seen, and we shall be led to eonsider the different conditions of men in their progress from primitive rudeness, to the most refined civilization. When we reflect on the numerous wants, which men must unavoidably feel in their rude state, and consider the versatile mind of man, ever ready to grasp at any thing that promises either novelty or convenience, we shall be at no loss to discover the first rudiments of that art, which may be justly called the parent of all others, and shall have reason to conclude, that its origin is as ancient, as its principles are simple. Necessity, the mother of invention, early suggested the means of supplying the wants of mankind by the casy method of exchange: the first advantages of this intercourse were but trifling; for in the early ages of society, man was in a condition little superior to that of the brute: while yet an inhabitant of the forest, or the cave, his reasoning faculties must have lain dormant, or if roused into action, could have been exerted on no other objects than those of security and subsistence. But this barbarous state could not long continue, it was soon perceived that one man or qne family could not live without the assistance of another, and that their condition would be improved by a mutual exchange of that portion of the necessaries of life, which was more than sufficient for their respective wants. Limited indeed must have been that exchange, while agriculture was unknown, while hunting was the sole employment of man, and the only means of his support. But when he began to till the ground, the husbandman would give his corn for hardearned spoils of the chace. As intercourse became more common, manhers were gradually humanized: commerce began to assume another, and more perfect form: the many inconveniences to which exchange, simple and unimproved, gave birth, were obviated by the invention of money, at first rude and perishable, till at length metals were used for that purpose, and became the nniversal medium of trade. Thus in examining the usages of remote antiquity, we can discern the dawn of that light, which fostered the spirit of commerce, and cheered the mind of man, amidst the prevailing gloon of Barbarism and ignorance. Soon after the introduction of money, commerce began to be regular and unobstructed, and the different countries' in which it was encouraged, started as it were into new life: the names of stranger and of enemy were no longer synonimous, when intercourse between different and distant nations prevailed. We are assured from the earliest and most authen tic records, that this mercantile intercourse was carried on soon after the general disper sion of mankind. But the traffic between nations hardly deserved the name of commerce; till men were acquainted with navigation: it was long too before this art could attain to any degree of perfection, or that the knowledge of it was made subservient to the pur poses of social life. It has been observed by an elegant and judicious writer,† that "from "the raft or canoe, that served to carry the "savage over the river, that obstructed him "in the chace, to the construction of a ves"sel, capable of conveying a numerous crew "with safety to a distant coast, the progress "in improvement is immense." The extensive influence of navigation on the subject we are now treating, will, in the course of investigating its progress, be clearly perceived; and the intimate connection, that commerce has with the operations of naval improvement, will in every stage of it open to our view. In the early ages which we are now considering, navigation must have been in its infancy, if not entirely unknown, it was long before men would venture on boisterous element, and commit their property and their lives to the mercy of the winds and waves. But it is unnecessary to search in the barren waste of ruder ages for the seeds of that art, which when sown in the rich and fertile soil of Egypt, and watered by the streams, of the Nile, was productive of wealth, of science, and of manners that distinguish and adorn a civilized people: It has been generally agreed, that in'. Egypt the art first attained to any degree of perfection, and that commerce was there first carried on in an uniform and popular channel. We shall find this conjecture founded on reason and probability, if we' consider the industrious and ingenious dispo sition of the people and shall be induced to believe, that they did not long remain ignorant or careless of the inestimable benefits, that might accrue to their country from the happiness of its situation. So sensible indeed were the inhabitants of this country of their local advantages, that the grateful and pious Egyptians beheld with reverence, and willingly subscribed to the deification of the first inventers and promoters of commerce and the arts. But superstition checked the advanceinent of trade, and by whispering to the Egyptians that the sea was an enemy to their God, taught them to consider navigation as disgraceful. Mariners were regarded with dislike and abhorrence; and it was reserved for the Phenicians to explore unknown seas, and to enrich their barren coast by the pro * Genesis. chap. 37, v. 25. ductions of distant countries. But, however, trade in carlier ages, might have suffered by this absurd opinion; Egypt has justly been celebrated as the nurse of ancient commerce, and of most of those arts that tend to civilise mankind. The Macedonian hero, the most refined politician, as well as the greatest conqueror of the age in which he lived, was so convinced of the advantageous situation of this country, that the grand object, as it were, and the most profitable effect of his victories, was the foundation of a city (Alexandria), which long continued the seat of trade, and the general mart of the world. Still the advancement of ancient commerce is chiefly to be ascribed to the Phenicians, whose national character, the reverse of the Egyptian, prompted them to engage in mercantile intercourse with every ation, whose commodities could either increase their power, or gratify their avarice. By an incessant attention to commerce, they erected on their sterile and rocky coast, an emporium in which the produce of every country then discovered was to be found. Their success in trade, and the benefits they derived from it were so great, that the merchants of Phenicia have been compared in splendour and eminence to "Princes and the honourable of the earth." But though thirst of wealth was the most striking, it was by no means the only characteristic of this people, nor were their minds enervated by that opulence, which was the fruit of their trade: their long and uncertain voyage round Africa, in an age unacquainted with the use of the compass, and with almost every art that contributes to render navigation secure, must be considered as the most enterprising and arduous attempt at discovery that history records. Tyre has been celebrated no less for its commerce than for its siege. The memory of it will remain as a wonderful instance of mercantile intrepidity, and valiant resistance; the bravery of its defenders was as eminent, as the policy of its Nor was commerce conqueror was cruel. buried in the ruins of Tyre: for through the thick mist in which the history of this period is enveloped, we discover Carthage, raised and totally supported by trade, shining with a splendour, which increased by contrast with the surrounding darkness. In tracing the progress of commerce among the ancients, we shall no where find our adiniration more strongly excited, than in contemplating its happy influence in the aggrandisement of this people: the spirit of trade was engrafted very constitution of the state: to this it owed its origin, and its subsequent greatness. Whether we view it emerging from obscurity, and nursed by the parental care of the Phenicians, or in the plenitude of its power resisting the attacks of Roman jea on the lousy, we shall have equal reason to admire the genial influence of commerce, and its vast resources, which afforded the Carthaginians the means of carrying on their tedious and expensive wars against that people, and made it for some time doubtful whether Rome or Carthage should give law to the world. The affinity between commerce and navigation is more clearly discovered and exemplified in the history of the Carthaginians, than in that of any other people, with which we are acquainted. Their unwearied attention to promote the interest of the state, and to cultivate every scheme that could tend to its glory and advantage, directed them to pursue navigation as their chief employment, to visit regions the most remote, and even carried them to the then inhospitable shores of Britain, in quest of tin. At the demolition of this city, commerce was dispersed among the several provinces of the vast empire of Rome. The Romans (at least under the republic) actuated by the fierce and savage spirit of warfare, and despising the milder and more useful arts of peace, suffered the nations into which their arms had penetrated to carry on their usual trade without molestation. This certainly by keeping up a mercantile, if not a martial, spirit among the inhabitants of the provinces contributed to render their servitude more tolerable, and relieved them in some degree from the galling pressure of a master's yoke. But however trade may have been neglec ted by the rugged sons of Rome, the capital of the world must necessarily have engrossed most of the productions of the provinces: the several nations of the old world never en. joyed so free an intercourse as when connected under one general head Commerce then flourished without interruption, either from the frequent hostility of adverse states, or the jealousy of rival kings; all was conducted with order and regularity, till the irruptions of the barbarians. Cominerce then fell; in the gene ral confiagration was consumed, and lay bu ried in the wreck of literature, civilization, and law till from its ashes arose a phoenix, more splendid, more flourishing than its pa rent, the source and prop of national strength, of liberty, and science. During the devastation which followed the standard of the northern ravagers, and the long night of barbarism that overshadowed the western empire, a faint ray of light, still glimmered in the east, and served to conduct the merchant to the shores of India, the sure spring in all ages of commercial opulence. Constantinople long resisted the attacks of sa vage violence, and by cherishing commerce as the support of her independence, maintained the splendour, though stripped of the pos sessions of the eastern empire. When the fertile plains of Italy were laid waste by the frequent inroads of the barbarians, and the continent of Europe became one vast theatre of war, outrage, and confusion; a few straggling families, fleeing from the desolating sword of Attila, took refuge in the marshes of Liguria, and the rocky shores of the Adriatic. Here though bereft of home, and of the pleasures of civilized society, they enjoyed liberty and independence, and by devoting their attention to trade, rendered their situation by degrees respectable, and at length the object of envy. Not satisfied with trading to the several ports of the Mediterranean, they took a wider range, and venturing beyond the streights, crept along the shores washed by the western ocean. Roused by the awakening call of industry, they formed themselves into civil communities, and became considerable and independent states. From this auspicious period they cultivated the commercial spirit with ardour, and prosecuted it with success. Such was the rise, and such the establishment of the once potent republics of Genoa and Venice.-While these republics were encreasing in wealth and importance, an event happened the most remarkable and extravagant that enthusiasm was ever known to suggest, or zeal to execute. The nations of Christendom, inflamed with religious frenzy, excited by the bold and popular eloquence of Peter the hermit, and kept alive by the policy of Pope Urban, formed the resolution of delivering Palestine from the yoke of the infidels. The most powerful chiefs, from love of adventure, and the hope of future reward, engaged in these enterprizes, and embarked with eagerness in the wild design. These valiant enthusiasts were transported in the vessels of the Venetians, the Pisans, and the Genoese, who, while other states were drained of their men and money, derived benefit from the fanaticism of the times. They supplied with provisions the vast armies of the cross, and amassed sums that would, even in this age, be esteemed immense. Constantinople, the general rendezvous of the christian warriors, was then indebted to Venice and Genoa for almost every commodity that wealth and luxury demanded. The effects of the Crusades on manners, and consequently on commerce, were great and powerful, the Europeans who returned communicated to their countrymen a taste for Asiatic luxury; the simple habits of their ancestors no longer satisfied their desires, new customs, new fashions every where sprung up, and opened fresh sources of wealth and merchandize," many valuable branches of commerce, which formerly centered in Constantinople were transferred to Venice, Genoa, or Pisa." Nor are we to conclude that these were the only states that were benefited by the crusades, and the intercourse produced by them with the Orientals: their beneficial VOL. I. [Lit. Pan. Jan. 1807.] over influence was as extensive and permanent, as the motives that gave rise to them were singular and wild.--Not long after this spirit of enthusiasm had evaporated, the polarity of the magnet was discovered, which contributed above every other cause to the extension of commerce, and, as it is expressed by an eminent writer," opened the universe." This discovery, in its consequences the most beneficial to mankind, laid open a wide field for enterprize and adventure: the mariner was no longer detained from traversing unknown seas for want of a guide to direct his course.Commerce during this period, was not confined to the states of Italy: the inhabitants of the Netherlands, sensible of the prodigious advantages that those states derived from their traffic with the East, formed the most powerful confederacy recorded in history, and vied with each other in the most vigorous exertions of trade. By this well-timed attention to the only art that could raise them from that ignorance in which Europe had becen whelmed, and by exchanging the naval stores and other useful commodities of the North, for the productions of India and Egypt they became rich and powerful, surpassed in opu lence, and at length awakened the jealousy of the most mighty monarchs. The HansTowns equalled the cities of Venice and Genoa in riches and splendour. Bruges especially became the chief mart of every commodity that contributes either to luxury or use, and was justly esteemed one of the most opulent cities on the European continent.Thus did Italy, and the cities situated between the Baltic and the Rhine, monopolise the trade of Europe, and surpass their more martial neighbours, in wealth and consequence, till other nations, envying their prosperity, had recourse to the same expedient, and arrived at the same pitch of grandeur and magnificence. Among these none can claim a higher title to our regard than the Portuguese who encouraged by the most enterprising genius of his time, f attempted and accomplished the dangerous, and, at least in modern times, unexplored circuit of Africa. This voyage, by affording a more ready and less expensive passage to India, was the principal source of opulence to the Portuguese: the change it produced in commerce was sudden and important; Lisbon encreased in wealth, while Venice declined and sunk into insignificance.—While men were engaged in wonder and amazement at the fortunate issue of this voyage, an event occurred more marvellous and unexpected, and productive of conse quences more momentous and permanent. The discovery of a new world roused the dormant faculties of men. Every one who was • Montesquieu. ↑ Don Henry. 2 D |